To hear the audio version of the meditation, please scroll to bottom.
Spring is coming and the long troublesome winter ends. We are very comfortable labeling events as good or bad, and we do love to complain when the weather is uncooperative.
So we focus on the difficulty and it fills the whole screen of our experience, making it harder to bear.
But experience is complex and each event is laden, with the possibility of discomfort and hardship, as well as joy, opening and growth. When we enter into the present, a vast number of outcomes become accessible, and suffering may be allowed to fall away.
Dark Wings of Spring
Have you ever entered into a moment carrying a great winter cloak? Draped just so, around your shoulders to keep you warm and safe?
The cold has been so sharp; penetrating the gut, the heart, the soul. The earth so hard in its arctic shell, we have lost touch, we lose touch with our foundation.
The heavy woolen shawl a burden we carry, a protected space, moving with us.
It is heavy and wet, smelling slightly of sheep.
We are slow, lumbering through this dormant time; sometimes asleep and dreaming, sometimes awake and suffering.
Do you know how to enter a moment with the brilliant aura of Spring?
Starting with a tiny thaw, we see the earth has softened.
Tinged with a reticent green, hiding a tender black layer of loam beneath.
Now, bend and come close. Let your hand move in a sensual way, down into a moist resilient pocket.
Gently take the offering.
Smell the rich darkness, the compost of life. Breath renewal into your being and taste it.
Let the energy spring from the earth into your naked foot. You begin to rise like the sap in the wakening trees. Like heat and light, a blazing power lifts you upward.
Arms stretched in flight and you,
Profoundly balanced on one leg…
Open your eyes.
You see Bran-wen, the Raven.
Dark as night and full of the shining glory of this day.
His wings extended, gathering the sunlight, supremely present.
On a tree top, facing you; magically, in concert with you.
You know he sees you, feels you, with your wings mirroring his own.
You join him, embraced in his wisdom, his mischief, his spirit.
He is part of you; your humanity, regret, and your heart.
Now you know,
In this one-ness you survived the winter.
In this one-ness you thrived, and now renew.
Lifting up, we are uplifted.
Breathing in I embrace the present
Breathing out I release aversion
Breathing in I relax into what is real
Breathing out I am here
Breathing in I kneel into acceptance
Breathing out I am one with the earth
Breathing in I am infused with spirit
Breathing out I arise
May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere.
-Ellen Adelman
© Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved.
Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute.
For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.